Taking the mick/mickey/michael

: Does anyone know the origins of where this English expression
came from? I've been trying to explain it to a Canadian colleague
of mine who understands the meaning but we are interested to see
how it generated. Would appreciate some help. Thanks

I've never heard this expression. (I'm from the U.S.) But here's
what it says in "The Dictionary of Contemporary Slang" by Tony Thorne
(Pantheon Books):

"take the mick/mickey/michael -- vb. British -- to mock, deride,
poke fun at. These expressions are milder versions of 'take the
piss.' Unbeknownst to most users, they employ rhyming slang: Mickey
is short for a mythical 'Mickey Bliss,' providing the rhyme for
'piss.' 'Michael' is a humorous variant. The phrases, like their
more vulgar counterpart, have been in use since the 1940s."

"take the piss (out of someone) vb. British -- to mock, deride,
poke fun (at). This vulgarism has been in widespread use since the
late 1940s. The original idea evoked by the expression was that
of deflating someone, recalling the description of a self-important
blusterer as 'all piss and wind.'"